The room, or rather, the laboratory, was dusty and had the smell of something that was recently burnt. A bunch of books and papers were laying around every corner, exotic goods and strange antics stored in wooden boxes, and the most eye-catching of everything were the scientific machines that were used in various experiments.

'Tis a secluded and secretive place that belongs to a very old being, a self-proclaimed scientist who passes all of his time in this laboratory, his only goal is to uncover the unknown. His thirst for knowledge was never sated, fueling his ever-so-rising ambition.

Lucy was guided here by Forne, who left shortly after, leaving her alone with a strange-looking entity. He had a humanoid figure but was actually a rock, a literal boulder that managed to reach this state through luck and constant hard-work.

He was the oldest member of Black Rose and one of its founders, the Yellow Seat of Science,….

"You must be the newest member of our organization, Lucy MoonStar."

Contrary to the stereotypical scientist, his lab coat was the color of mud, he was a bit short with messy orange hair, golden eyes and a body covered in stones.

Unlike the other seats, Lucy didn't feel pressure from this man, who appeared to be easy-going and didn't behave with arrogance or dominance.

"Nice to meet you."

Lucy didn't act coldly and properly greeted him though she didn't get too close to him as he appeared to be in some kind of experiment that was affecting his surroundings, polluting the air and disturbing the Nether Energy.

"I'll finish in a sec, please wait."

She stood at the entrance, watching him as he was in the middle of poking a black cube with two very thin, almost invisible, needles. A few minutes later, the cube was successfully opened but by doing this, the scientist seemed visibly tired. He let out a long sigh as he sat on one of the chairs and actually took out a banana from under his sleeve. He slowly peeled it while gazing back at Lucy.

"I've heard the main parts of your plan from Forne. Attacking the Nameless Knight? It is truly a reckless endeavor… one where the consequences are much more disastrous than you lot can imagine, but I digress. After all, I've nothing to do with that."

"We are not attacking the Nameless Knight but Sol'Khin."

Lucy tried to correct him but the boulder man chuckled and retorted: "Is there a difference? Sol'khin is inside him so the moment he senses danger, he'll surface. Even if all the Nine Seats team-up, I doubt you'll take him down if he were to control that boy."

"We'll be catching him unguarded."

"Unguarded? Miss, no, Madam Lucy, I don't think you understand the absurdity of your words. Do you think he's called the strongest living being in all three Universes just because he defeated a few baddies? Or through a fluke? I'll warn you again, he's not someone you should mess with. I don't know him very well but I am certain that he's aware of his situation and since he couldn't fix it himself, I don't think your attempt will. Sure enough, the Orb of the Fallen Overgods can extract Sol'Khin but do you think he'll watch you do that to him? No, he'll try to escape or kill all of you. Sol'Khin is a deceitful being who inherited his father's slyness, a signal from him and you've got an army of Cthulhu in your hands. Look, I know he's- *sigh*, never mind, I've said enough."

He beckoned for her to come closer, which she silently and obediently did. Her mind was thinking about Arthur and how to handle him inside the Red Tower. The soul bound no longer exists so, as long as she doesn't attract too much attention, he shouldn't be able to recognize her.

The scientist took a pair of glasses and leaned his head closer to take a good look at Lucy.

"A half-white specter, half-demon. Mana user and a Yin Physique. Magma, Darkness and fire Attributes? I can sense the Golden Crow fire. Ohh… what's this?"

He fixated his kind-of falling glasses and frowned as he focused on her right arm.

"Interesting, very interesting. I see that you've met the Black Devil."

Honestly, Lucy was surprised to see him deduce so much with just one look. It reminded her of an ability Arthur spoke. Apparently, with the use of a specific card, the Joker can also see everything about a target. Whether it's their stats, hidden powers, physiques, etc…

"Compared to the rest of the Twelve, which most are hot-blooded, Timos is a cool and reasonable guy. However, he doesn't go around giving Devil arms to anyone… which means you did something to him. You and your husband were banished to Riarravar but managed to return."

With a hand on his rocky chin, he pondered for ten seconds or so before laughing:

"So the first world is no more? I guess it's about time for me to travel too… mayhap I'll meet Timos again."

Without needing her to say anything, he figured everything out and came out with the right conclusion.

"By the way, I heard that your mother is the Matriarch of the White Specter Clan. Your father is Thordan from that alchemy sect… have you ever wondered why you're half-demon? Your father was human yet you don't have a drop of human blood inside of you. A peculiar matter, right? Honestly, it picked my curiosity."

Seeing her slightly frown, the scientist smirked and added: "Your mother, Katrina, only had one man in her life so your father cannot be some mysterious demon hiding in someplace."

"Forne said that you have something that can help me hide my identity?"

Lucy quickly switched the topic, unwilling to discuss this matter with a stranger. The scientist didn't seem to mind as he shrugged his shoulders and retrieved a mask from his storage.

He presented it to Lucy while explaining something:

"This darling is one of my finest works. With the exception of one person and one thing, it can fool everyone. It can alter the System so that when Appraisal is used on you, fake info will appear. However, you must know that it must always be active, meaning that using your Time ability, which can freeze time, will stop its effect for a short period of time, so refrain from doing that."

"What or who are the exceptions you spoke of?"

"Ah… you don't have to worry about them. One is the Red Tower, which won't act against you, and the other is one of the Twelve."

*********

The boy did as told, he carried the coffin to the continent in East, which was inhabited mostly by humans. Fortunately, there weren't a lot of dangerous beasts in the forest, and that made the job easier. He already got the promised gold and all that's left is to complete the task.

He dragged the big coffin to peaceful and lush forest, found the cave after a while and started digging. First, he dug a long corridor then built a shabby door and painted a symbol on it. Lastly, he built a miniature room and placed everything like the note handed by the Empress said.

The coffin in the center, two chests in the corner and a simple table and chair. He ascertained that everything was in order before leaving this place and forcing himself to forget about all that he did and happened, like the oath he made stated.

Jackob didn't know that by building Zodiak's fake tomb in the Human continent of Astria, he started a long chain of events.

…

"Arthur, this is the only thing I can do for you. Please understand."

An old man stood in the room built by Jackob. He looked at his skeleton laying inside the coffin, his face filled with melancholy, he stretched his and caressed the bones. After a while, he retracted his gaze and removed his robe, along with a few other items. He put them neatly next to the corpse before taking out the final thing, a cane with a creepy skeletal head on its top.

This was Sol'Khin's cane that Arthur found when he stumbled upon this tomb.

"There will come a day where I'll take this back."

Later, Zodiak left the cave and flew to the sky, stopping only when he reached a self-made boundary. He withdrew a large golden scroll from his ring and poured almost all of his energy inside it, causing his skin to start withering and blood to come out of his nose and lips.

"Twist Time and bend to my will! I wish for thee to take the titan to the past… ten thousand years from now!"

A minute later, the continent below Zodiak, along with three others disappeared from the Water Region. Actually, they weren't continents but islands that were in the edge of the region, isolated from the world and rarely frequented by powerhouses, so when they vanished, no one really noticed.